


Set-Up

by Nemesis (ThetaSigma), ThetaSigma



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Established Relationship, M/M, casefic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-20
Updated: 2016-02-20
Packaged: 2018-05-22 06:55:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6069541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThetaSigma/pseuds/Nemesis, https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThetaSigma/pseuds/ThetaSigma
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sequel to <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/6042157">Gang Activity</a>. A hit's been planned on Fin, and John and Sandoval have to work together to keep Fin safe. Inspired by <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/users/sidewinder">sidewinder</a>. Mentions events from <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/6008530">Protective</a></p>
            </blockquote>





	Set-Up

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sidewinder](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sidewinder/gifts).



Sandoval fairly ran into the SVU squad room. Normally, this would be the last place he would find himself, especially after enduring the sharp edge of both Munch _and_ Fin’s tongues – he still remembered the tongue lashing he got from Fin during their undercover work regarding Fin’s relationship – but he had important information to deliver and didn’t think it could wait. 

Fin wasn’t there, but Munch and Cragen were. He hesitated. Technically, only Cragen and Fin needed to know, but Munch would find out soon enough, and an olive branch wouldn’t go amiss. He conferred with Cragen in low tones. “I have information, and I think Munch would want to hear it too,” he said, glancing at the man, who was giving him a stern look.

Cragen looked at him and nodded. “John, over here,” he called. 

Munch raised an eyebrow but joined them, the three of them entering Cragen’s office. “Captain?” Munch asked, carefully not looking at Sandoval.

“What’s this about, Detective?” Cragen asked Sandoval.

“You remember that gang Fin and I busted up?” Sandoval asked. “One of their leaders went down screaming bloody murder at Fin, and I think they’re actually planning a hit.”

Cragen looked very serious, and Sandoval snuck a look at Munch. His face had gone very white, and Sandoval couldn’t blame him. “How credible is this information?” Cragen asked.

“We managed to turn one of the gang into an informant. We only had him on petty offenses and he was eager to roll, so we let him back out on the streets. His information’s always been on point. Apparently, a lot of the more minor offenders are getting out now, and they’re _pissed_ that we broke up the gang – they blame Fin, he did most of the talking. Seems like that was the only home they knew, and now they’re back with gangs that don’t treat them right. The ones who had the brains to really pull together a gang are all in prison for years and years, so any attempt to pull the gang back together failed, and Jose’s ordered a hit on Fin. Where is Fin?”

“He’s undercover again.”

Munch looked _extremely_ unhappy.

“What about you?” Cragen asked Sandoval. “They put one out on you?”

“Not yet,” Sandoval said. He blushed. “Apparently Jose thought I was too cute for that and that there’s, uh… hope for me. But I wouldn’t be surprised if IAB doesn’t start digging through my records, try to find anything to tarnish me.”

Munch muttered angrily under his breath about totally misreading the situation. Cragen shot him a look and Munch subsided. 

Cragen sighed and sat down at his desk. “You’re sure about this?” he said.

Munch frowned. “ _Now_ you don’t trust him?” he said sharply.

“Absolutely,” Sandoval said, ignoring Munch.

Cragen turned to Munch. “You’ve been Fin’s contact person while he’s undercover. Any news from him?”

“Not for the past two days,” Munch said worriedly. “I just figured he was in deep and didn’t want to risk breaking cover, but now you’ve got me worried.”

Cragen frowned. He _knew_ his next move was going to be extremely unpopular with both men. “Sandoval, you’re with us until this is sorted. And you two are paired until Fin is safe.”

Both men stared at him and started talking at once, protesting.

“And that’s not up for debate,” Cragen said firmly.

“We should pull him out,” Munch said. “I don’t like this.”

Cragen frowned. “Contact him first, see where he’s at. We can’t restart if we pull him out, and you and he both know that. Let me know.”

***

“So where is Fin?” Sandoval asked Munch, wondering if the man would answer him.

“Undercover,” Munch said shortly.

“Well, fuck, that’s helpful,” Sandoval answered. 

“I’ll contact him, see where he’s at.” He went to his desk, picking up his phone and dialing.

Sandoval watched him with a frustrated look. He had hoped this news would make Munch finally trust him at least a _little_ , but Munch seemed determined to shut him out. 

*** 

John was worried. Of course he was, he had been worried before; Fin usually stayed in touch when he was undercover, but now with this new piece of information…. He dialed the new cell they had given Fin.

No answer. He bit his lip. Fin was undercover as some new aide to a sports guy – a role John had to say suited him admirably – who they were looking at as a pedophile. John racked his brains trying to remember exactly what the guy was – some up and coming basketball guy, Richardson, if he remembered right. Fin had been following the guy with interest up until rumors of this man cornering young girls came to light. Nothing concrete, no witnesses, no complainants – money made everything go away. They couldn’t get anyone to complain, but _damn_ they wanted him. Fin had volunteered to go undercover as an aide to him, and he certainly had the background knowledge for it.

He considered. If he pushed his case, Cragen would probably pull Fin out – if they could locate him, that is – but they wanted Richardson badly, and no one else could go undercover. John tried to think straight, tried to consider the facts without his emotions about Fin bogging him down.

He sighed and knocked on Cragen’s door. “No answer,” he told Cragen. “I can’t get through to Fin.”

Cragen frowned. “What did he say last time you talked to him?”

“Routine,” John said. “Everything seemed to be going well. He was settling in, starting working. No suspicions that he could tell.” He considered. He could pass for a lawyer. “Want me to stop by, pretend I’m his lawyer?”

Cragen was silent, clearly considering it. “It’s risky,” he said. “But it’s equally risky not to check up on him, especially if we can’t get in touch with him. You’re serving a court notice for alimony payments, John. Don’t take Sandoval this time.”

“ _That_ won’t be a problem,” John said dryly.

“You _will_ have to work with him,” Cragen said, “so the sooner you get used to that, the better.”

*** 

John entered the office building Fin had started working in. He was dressed even more sharply than usual, in a three-piece suit, and he had a blue-edged paper in his hands. Novak had typed up an actual alimony demand for them in case anyone insisted on looking at it. John had laughed dryly at that; he could probably have done it himself, having been through it four times.

“I’m serving papers,” he said shortly to the receptionist. “I’m looking for David Young, is he here?” David Young was Fin’s newest undercover name.

“Don’t you usually have errand runners for that?” the receptionist asked curiously.

“Eh, it was on my way, and I figured he could use a head’s up,” John lied smoothly. 

“David’s fourth floor, number 402.” She gave him a visitor’s sticker and pointed him towards the elevators.

John knocked on number 402, wondering if Fin was there and whether he would open the door. Fin opened the door and stared in shock at John.

“I’m delivering papers,” John said, handing him the blue papers in his hand. 

Fin nodded and opened it, pretending to read it. “You’d better come in.” He poked his head out of his office and said, “I’ll just be a minute.”

“What the hell?” Fin hissed at John. 

John hissed back, “We haven’t heard from you in two days, and now we got Sandoval telling us there’s a hit out on you.”

“Been fine,” Fin said in a low tone. “Right after work, there’s always some event. Gone midnight before I’m back at that cover apartment. Got nothing yet.”

“We should pull you out.”

“If they’re looking for me, safest place is here,” Fin reasoned. “Assumed name and identity, just like witness protection. Besides, we’re right about this guy, something ain’t right. I’ll stay in touch. Now go.” He raised his voice. “Tell that _bitch_ I already _pay_ her plenty, she ain’t getting another cent!”

John opened the door and left, his worry only slightly assuaged. At least Fin was fine, so far.

He got back to Cragen’s office and sighed. Sandoval should probably sit in on this meeting, although John was not excited about that.

“How’s Fin?” Cragen asked.

“He’s fine so far,” John said. “No one’s made him but they work crazy hours. He’s determined to stay there.”

“You tell him about the hit?”

John nodded. “He thinks safest place for him is where he is. Says they won’t know to go looking for him there. I still don’t like it, Captain, and it doesn’t sound like he has anything yet. We could pull him out.”

Cragen considered it. “Does he think there’s something there?”

John nodded reluctantly. “Yeah, he says something’s not right about this guy.”

“He stays, for now. He’s right, it’s probably safer than being around here. You two, work the other case. Find out just who is supposed to kill Fin.”

*** 

John and Sandoval went back to Sandoval’s informant, hauling him into the precinct on a trumped-up charge to protect his status.

“You gotta tell us more, Davis,” Sandoval said. 

“Look, man, I told you, that cop buddy of yours has a hit on him. I’m risking a lot just telling you that!” Davis protested. John was standing against the wall, his arms folded, saying nothing.

“That’s not enough,” Sandoval said. “Who’s planning it? Who’s supposed to do it? How are they doing it?”

Davis shook his head. “Look, I don’t know. Life out there, it’s rough. Word gets out I’m talking, I’m dead meat too.”

“You’re dead meat if you _don’t_ talk, pal,” John said quietly. “I’ll make it my personal mission, do you understand me? You think your gang’s scary? You haven’t seen anything yet.”

Davis gulped. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”

“Do I look like I’m joking?” John asked, his voice so quiet both Davis and Sandoval had to strain to hear him. “Now, how is this supposed to go down? And don’t think I’m going to take a bluff as an answer.”

Davis looked to Sandoval, who raised an eyebrow expectantly. “Okay, okay, look. One of the guys said he’d do it. He was gonna shoot him. I don’t know what his plan was supposed to be, okay? All I know is, he’s waiting until your guy isn’t surrounded by cops.”

“The _name_ , Davis,” John said firmly, pushing himself off from the wall and stalking closer to Davis.

“Alexander Richardson,” Davis said immediately. “Goes by Sandy.”

John frowned. “Any relation?” he asked.

“To that basketball guy? Yeah, man, that’s his cousin. Look, Sandy was pissed when the gang went belly-up, okay? He was spitting fire and it didn’t take long, I hear, for Jose to plant that idea.”

John swept out of the interview room, Sandoval on his heels. Cragen was waiting outside.

“I don’t like it,” John said, “and I know why now. It’s a set-up. For all we know, Sandy set up the rumors in the first place to lure us into putting Fin there undercover.”

“That’s a long play,” Cragen said. 

“Safer than shooting Fin anywhere near here,” John said. “They’d know cops are always paired up.”

“Still, they could’ve tried to get Fin after work,” Cragen reasoned. “They wouldn’t’ve known…” he trailed off, not saying anything about John and Fin’s relationship in front of Sandoval.

Sandoval fidgeted. “Actually, uh, I know about that,” he said. “I don’t know if _they_ know, but I do. But maybe they tailed him for a while, saw that the two of them are together.”

“Captain, we gotta pull Fin out. He’s been set up.”

“You two, go to the office immediately,” Cragen ordered. “And this time, don’t come back without Fin.”

*** 

“So you know,” John said on their drive over. 

“I’m surprised Fin didn’t tell you,” Sandoval said. “Got the rough edge of his tongue during our undercover stint because of a comment I made over it.”

John shot him a look. “Do I _want_ to know what you said, Sandoval?”

“Probably not,” Sandoval answered. “It was stupid and your partner set me straight.”

“How’d you find out?” John asked.

“Saw you two one night,” he admitted. “Wasn’t gonna say anything; it’s not my business.”

They arrived, and John dashed in, Sandoval steps behind him. The receptionist spotted them. “Delivering more papers?” she asked.

John waved his badge and said, “We’re here to see David Young, _now_.”

“Upstairs,” she said. John and Sandoval ran for the elevators, not seeing her dialing the phone. 

They arrived at Fin’s office. Fin sighed as he opened the door and saw John and Sandoval there. “I _told_ you, I’m _fine_ ,” he said.

“No, you’re not,” John said firmly. “You’ve been set up. Richardson’s no pedophile – his cousin’s one of the gang you and Sandoval busted a few months ago. That chatty idiot Jose ordered a hit on you, and Richardson’s cousin’s the one who’s doing it. You think it’s just a coincidence?”

Fin looked startled. “Damn. You’re sure?”

John and Sandoval nodded. “We’re leaving – _all_ of us,” John said. He turned to find a gun pointed at him.

“Well, well, well,” Sandy said, closing the door behind him. “I was planning on just getting that bastard cop that broke up the gang and put us all back with those haters, but look what I got. His boyfriend and his pretend boyfriend. Nice little love triangle you’ve got going on here, _Detective_. Yeah, you never fooled us for a second.”

John’s hand went towards his gun immediately.

“Uh-uh, none of that, Detective. You slide that over to me right now. You too, pretty boy. You know, Jose doesn’t want me to shoot you ‘cause he thinks you’re too cute, but that ain’t gonna stop me. And _you_ , you’re a nasty hypocrite,” he said, turning to Fin. “S’okay for _you_ to be gay, but when _we_ want to be, that’s not?”

“It had nothing to do with that! That was a _murder_ investigation!” Fin protested. “I don’t give a rat’s ass who you sleep with, just who you kill.”

“Well, I’ll tell you who I’ll kill,” Sandy promised. “First I’m gonna kill your boyfriend. Then I’m gonna kill pretty boy here. Next I’m gonna kill you.”

“You’re going to kill three cops?” John asked disbelievingly. “One was insane enough, you want to _triple_ that? People know we’re here.”

“Then they can find your bodies. I ain’t scared of prison. Hell, I’ll be a hero. Ain’t a damn one of them in there that doesn’t think about it.”

“You’ll be a _dead_ hero,” Sandoval said dryly. “They give the death penalty to cop murderers.”

“Eenie, meenie, miney, mo,” Sandy said, finally pointing his gun at Fin. “Whoops, guess I will start with you, in case we get interrupted. Pity, I did want to shoot your boyfriend in front of you. Guess I’ll settle for shooting you in front of your boyfriend.”

Sandoval didn’t stop to think, just charged. He had no weapon and nothing but the element of surprise, but hell if he was letting this go down. Sandy fired blindly, shocked, and Sandoval screamed, but kept going, knocking the man down.

“You want to give me a hand here?” he asked crossly, turning to John. He was pinning Sandy to the ground but was bleeding hard. John and Fin took over, Fin holding Sandy down while John cuffed him. John kept a firm grip on Sandy while Fin kicked his gun away and went to take a look at Sandoval’s wound.

“It’s my bicep, I’m fine.”

“Hell, man, you need medical attention. John, call it in and call a bus.”

*** 

John knocked on Sandoval’s hospital door hesitantly. “I was wrong,” he said by way of greeting.

Sandoval smiled weakly. “Did it hurt?” he asked.

“A bit,” John admitted. “Thank you, you saved his life.”

Sandoval nodded and his head fell back against the pillows. “I know you don’t like me, Munch, but I got nothing against either of you.”

John sighed. “You did good, Mike. I’ve been… kind of a bastard. I’m sorry.”

“Hey, I get it, I do. But thank you.”

“You gonna be okay?”

“Yeah, they’re letting me go soon,” Sandoval said. “Should be back on active duty in a few days; it was a superficial wound. Guy’s got lousy aim.”

“You looked terrifying charging him,” John said. He headed towards the door and paused before leaving. “Hopefully we can, uh, work together again.”

“Only if I don’t get shot again,” Sandoval said immediately. “Go, hug your boyfriend close.”

John left and met Fin in the hallway. “You two make good?” Fin asked.

“Yeah, yeah we did.”

“Admit it, the guy’s not that bad.”

John just pulled him close. 

“What are you doing?” Fin hissed.

“Just following a not that bad of a guy’s orders,” John answered.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Comments are love <3


End file.
